Hog feeder



Dec. 8, 1953 M. L. RYSDON ETAL 20 HOG FEEDER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 29, 1950 IN V EN TORS max L- R salon Richard 673 11561- Dec. 8, 1953 M. L. RYSDON ETAL 2,661,720 HOG FEEDER Filed April 29, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m iNIENZJRS ax ya on Richard moyer Dec. 8, 1953 M. L. RYSDON ETAL 2,661,720

HOG FEEDER Filed April 29, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ./54 INVENTORS max L R sdon Richard .1710 er taken on line 33 of Figurel;

Patented Dec. 8, 1953 Max L. Rysdon and Richard C. l\". [oyer,-- Sioux Falls, S. Dak.; said Moyer assignor to said,

Rysdon Application April 29, 1959, Serial No. 159,068

This invention relates to a hog feeder. As is generally known, a hog feeder consists in a container having an open top for the insertion of the feed, and the feed gravitates downwardly into a trough that opens to the exterior from which the animals feed. The'feed fed to animals in such a feeder is normally in dry form. An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel construction hog feeder in which bridging of the feed as it gravitatesdownwardly iseliminated. v v

A second object. of the invention is the provision of a hog feeder having such a novel construction that not only is bridging of the feed prevented, but a great saving of material is effected in the construction of the feeder.

More specifically, and in connection with'the elimination of bridging of the feed, the feeder consists of a construction having side walls that -taper outwardly in a downward direction, whereby bridging of the feed is eliminated. -We have found that vertical and parallel side walls do not prevent bridging of the feed. There is a critical ang e of the side walls by reason of the use of which bridging is eliminated and maximum capacity isattained; we have devised a hog feeder having such a novel construction that such critical angle is employed.

The hog feeder is fabricated from sheet metal. Sheet metal is supplied by a mill in certain standard widths, usually of an even number of inches in width; if sheets are required that are not of those standard widths, there are serious disadvantages. V

Therefore, another specific object of the present invention is the provision of a novel hog feeder as referred to above having the advantages mentioned, and so constructed that standard mill width sheets canbe'employed with a minimum of wastage of material. V 4

With these and other objects in .view, curinvention consists in the construction, arrange- ,ment, and combination of'-the;various parts of our device whereby the objects contemplatedare attained, as hereinafter more fully .set forth, pointed out in the claims,and. illustrated .in accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of thehog 'feeder of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the feeder'with the cover removed;

"Figure 3 is an enlarged verticalsectional view Figure 4 is'a-n end view of the feeder;

' Figure 5 is a partial sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4; l

the

3 Claims. (01. 119-43) tioned relatively close' together.

Figure 6 illustrates a mill sheet indicating in dotted'lines, templates to be'cut therefrom for forming certain elements'of the feeder; V

Figure '7 is one of the templates cut from th sheet of -Figure .6, showing the bend lines;

Figure 8 illustrates a mill sheet on whichis indicated in dotted lines, templates to be cut therefrom for forming other elements of the feeder; and v Figure 9 illustrates a template cut from sheet of Figure 8; showing the bend lines.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the feeder as a whole is shown in Figure 1 and re ferred to by the numeral 12. For purposesof convenience, a general description of the feeder is here given for the purpose of characterizing the general nature of the feeder as a'whole, after which specific descriptions of the various elethe 20 ments will be given in detail.

The feeder 12 includes a bottom element I 4 made up of two plates l 6 supported on base elements l8. The sheets l6 have inclined portions overlapping at apex 20 and depressed portions 22 terminating in upturned portions. pressed portions 22 form troughs extending the length of the feeder and are closed by covers 26. The numeral 28 indicates end walls made up of bottom plate members 30 and top plate members -32. The feeder also includes side walls indicated generally at 34, made up of plate members 39 and -38. The numeral 40 indicates a removable cover for closing the open top ofv the feeder.

Feed is inserted in the feeder through the open top and it gravitates downwardly into the troughs 22, from which animals feed upon raising of the covers 26-. The feed usually fed to animals in the feeder is'indry form, often consisting of ground grainstogetherwithcommercial feeds. The feed 'is' thus usually in substantially powdered form, but maybe granular. Such feed is apt to bridge between th-osewalls or the feeder that are posi- The plate members' 30 of the end walls 26 are cut from amill sheet, as indicated in Figure 8.

Themillsheet-isreferred to at 42 and. the dotted lines 44' indicate the cutting lines from which "templates indicatedat-AB in Fig. 9 are cut.' The mill sheet illustratedis of standard width, its

dimensions being 36"wide, and 96" long. These dimensions are only examples, but'have a'bearingon the sizes'of other sheets from which other elements of the feederare' formed. In the template illustratedin-Figure 9, the dot-dash lines '48:..:-indicate bend lines for forming flanges for securing in'iplac'e'i the. piece which evolves into the plate member 30.." The flanges formed by The debending on the lines 48 are, of course, turned at right angles to the plate member. The flange 50 thus formed on the bottom is fitted under the depressed portions 22 of the bottom member l4 and secured thereto as by spot welding or riveting. Similarly, the flanges 52 are secured to the upturned ssruonfsrgf '{Ihe flanges SQ are rolled into tubular shaped elementshs'indicated at 54 in Figure 2. The plate members 36 are rectangular pieces having flanges 56 at their ends for securement to the end plate members 3 and down-turned flanges 58 at their r pper edges for securement to the plate members 38. The plate members 36 converge'in'a downward direction and their bottom edges are spaced apart from each other, .as well as being. spaced iron), the apex 20 of the bottom member I4. The feed flows through openings formed by such spacing into the troughs 22. I -he central inclined portions Ifi'd'efl'ect the feed out into the troughs'and prevent the'accumulation of feed in the center that would otherwise be unavailable to the anirfihls.

Partition members .80, are placed in the troughs 22fthese partition members being vertically disposed' and spaced longitudinal of the. troughs; they may be secured in 'position by forming flanges on the appropriate edges for securement to the adjacentelements of the feeder. covers 2%"aie hingie'dlyfmounted in position by means of extensions 62 shown best in Figure 1, having slots forming end insert portions fitted in looped brackets '66, welded or otherwise se- The cured tothe plate members 36. The end portions of the eirtensions .62 are. free to pivot in the brackets 65 and the covers 26. are thereby free to be swung upwardly.

Slide closure members 68 are provided for closing' or: the openings into the troughs. These closure members are'in the form of plates abutting the'inside surfaces of the plate members 3.6 and adapted to' be slid up ordown, "being held in placebS clamping brackets 10 The closure members 6'8 can be 'opened or closed to any desired degree for controlling the rate oiflow 0ffeed into the troughs. Figure 5 illustrates in detail how the closure members .68 are mounted. Partitions" may be interposed at desired positions ii'i'the feeder. 4

The upper portion oi the feeder and its specific construction, together with the end plate members 30, constitute the subject'matter. of the present invention. It will be noted that the plate members 38. diverge ina downward directi'on'and the particular angle: that these plate members are disposed is a critical angle with respect to the results acwmpli hfid- The plate elements 32 are cut from a mill sheet as indicated in Figure 6. The, mill sheet here illustrated is approximately 95 inches long. and 28 inches wide. .It will be Obvious, or course, thatthese dimensions are merely. exemplary, and We do not wish to be limited to such specific measurements. However, there is a proportioned "relationship between the size ofthe feeder and widths of mill sheets employed in the construction thereof. The dotted; lines 16 indicate the lines for cutting the templates forv forming the end plate members 32. The numeral '18, in Figme s s a plate cut from the mill sheet of Figure 6. The dotedash lines, 89 on the, template"! 8 in Figure 7 indicate bend lines for forming flanges on the template in the formation of the endplate'element'32,-'whicli are turned at right angles to the bo'dyof the template, The

against the "upper marginal portion of the bottom" end plate member 30 and riveted thereto. The plate members 30 and 32 thus form the end walls of the feeder.

The plate members 38 are rectangular sheets, each having a looped portion 88 which is hooked under the down-turned flange 58 on the plate member 36. The top marginal edge of the plate member 38 is intfirned to form a flange 90 for reinforcement purposes.

' Thdcoverlil formed of a rectangular sheet, the lateral edges of which are turned in as indicated at 92. The sheet forming the cover is preferably arcuate and end members 9d, are sec red the eto hr an ven t means c as spot we s ms- Se ur d o a end ber 9 s int 9i pi o ed a $5 a d d r l d downwardly. E ach link has a slot U10 raritir-ins a bo t attendin through a e' th at memb r he e t having a wingid t 11);. Tlght elflillg the nuts 10.4" retains the cover in position and the cover can be'rnoved to opa position by loosening the nuts, lifting the cover up and swinging it to the side.

The plate elements 38 forming the up'per portions of the side walls are disposed at an angle of 79.? with the horizontal. We hayefound that when the plate elements are disposed at sucha n angle, there is no bridging of the feed between the side walls, as thefeed'gravit'ates downwardly through the feeder. We have also'found that if the angle is instead of 79?, there is a tendency to bridge, and if the angle is over 80?, bridging definitely occurs. On the other hand, if the angle referred to is less than 79, bridging is still eliminated but capacity 'is sacrificed. For ex ample, 759. would prevent bridging. but because e mpe dgeSof the jside walls would be so close together there would be considerably less capacity of the feeder. We believe that our invention includes any angle such as to prevent bridging of the feed, but we prefer to employ the angle of 793, thus preventing bridging and proyiding the greatest capacity possible. As far as we are able to determine, our feeder is the first in which bridging is prevented without the use of a mechanical agitator. Bridging between the end walls of the feeder is prevented because of their greater spacing.

The second major object and advantage of the present invention is the elimination of waste material. The above description refers to the chief advantage, namely the prevention of bridging of the feed, and the prevention of waste material is particularly significant when'considering the fact that the construction also prevents bridging.

As mentioned above; the end plate elements 32 are cut froiira standard siae mill sheet' The templates are cut from the mill sheet in successively reversed position; that is,- the small end of one. template is adjacent the large end ofthe next one. The fact that the side edges of the templates 18 are disposed at 79".. permits a given number of templates to be cut from a standard size mill sheet, as illustrated in Figure 6,"with the extremities of the outermost templates: substantially in register with the end marginal edges of the sheet. If the angle is different from 79', there is. a wastage of material because anymultiple number of templates do not correspond to the length of a single mill sheet.

Also, because. of the fact that an angle of 79 is employed, the side plate elements 38 result in standard mill sheet widths. For example, when the template 18 is cut from a mill sheet 14 of 28" in width, the side plate member 38 is substantially 28" wide, namely 28" in slant height. If the angle of the plate elements 38 is altered from 79, the slant height of the plate elements must be increased or decreased, resulting in the necessity of employing a plate that is not a standard width. In the latter case, either there is wastage of material when the piece is cut from a wider sheet, or it is necessary to employ sheets that are not standard in width, with attendant difficulties. In addition, the particular construction enables the end plate members 30 to be cut from standard width sheets, with a minimum of wastage of material.

We have also found that when an angle of '79 is employed, the cover 40 can be fabricated from a standard width mill sheet. If an angle other than 19 is employed, the same conditions exist in connection with the cover 40 as just referred to in connection with the plate elements 38.

It is highly desirable in fabricating such device as the hog feeder herein disclosed to employ metal sheets of standard widths as supplied by a mill. If odd size sheets are employed, it becomes necessary to order at a time much in advance of the time for ordering standard size sheets, because steel mills cannot supply odd size sheets as quickly as standard width sheets. It is diflicult to predict market conditions so far in advance, and if too great a quantity of odd size sheets are ordered and not used, they can not be readily resold. The purchaser then has inventory difficulties, while if he orders standard size sheets and finds later that he does not need as many as ordered, he can readily resell them. On the other hand, if odd size sheets are required, and standard sheets of greater dimensions than that required are ordered, then there is an objectionable wastage of material. The advantages of the present invention, in order to be properly emphasized, bear repetition, namely (a) a construction of a hog feeder wherein bridging of the feed as it gravitates downwardly is eliminated, and (b) a construction so designed that a great number of its elements are fabricated from standard size mill sheets.

While we have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, manifestly it is susceptible of modification and rearrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. We do not, therefore, wish to be understood as limiting the invention to the precise form herein disclosed, except as we may be so limited by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a feeder of the character disclosed, a container having end walls and opposed upper side walls each inclined outwardly and downwardly at an angle of between and with the horizontal, opposed lower side walls inclined downwardly and inwardly, said upper side walls extending over the major portion of the height of said container and adapted to have feed stored in the space therebetween, the lower edges of said lower side Walls being spaced apart to form a feed aperture extending along the length of said lower walls, a feeding trough extending along the length of each lower side wall and adapted to receive feed from said container, each feeding trough having a longitudinal wall inclined upwardly forming the back Wall of said trough and cooperating with the back wall of the other trough to form a divider ridge extending the length of said feed aperture, and said back wall of each trough being spaced from the lower edge of the associate lower side wall to form a, trough feed aperture through which feed is adapted to pass from the container into the troughs.

2. A feeder as set forth in claim 1 wherein the downward projection of the lower side walls intersect the upwardly inclined back walls of the troughs, and including closure members adjustably mounted on said lower side walls and slidable toward and away from the associate back walls of the troughs to vary the size of the trough feed apertures.

3. A feeder as set forth in claim 1 wherein the major portion of the upwardly inclined back Wall of each trough extends from said divider ridge laterally outward of the lower edge of the adjacent lower side wall, whereby the feed passing through said feeding aperture moves laterally into the associate trough a substantial distance from said feeding aperture.

MAX L. RYSDON. RICHARD C. MOYER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 436,458 Musser Sept. 16, 1890 718,287 Snow Jan. 13, 1903 1,099,331 Zimmer June 9, 1914 1,335,155 Brown Mar. 30, 1920 1,656,122 Lord Jan. 10 192 8 

